The present invention relates generally to gaming devices and more specifically to the wagering games requiring player inputs.
Wagering machines in most jurisdictions are games of luck, not skill. For instance, slot machines owe at least some of their popularity to the fact that an amateur, novice or inexperienced player can play most slot machines at the player's own pace, with no required skills, strategy (or very little strategy) or risk evaluation and perform as well as the seasoned or experienced game player. Most slot machines are set to pay back on average between eighty and ninety-nine percent of the amount that the player's wager. These payouts are randomly determined. Nevertheless, players constantly try to inject skill, know-how or strategy into gaming devices with the hope of turning the odds in their favor.
Other gaming devices include luck and a fair amount of strategy or knowledge of the game. Video poker and blackjack are two games that require luck and strategy. The player is lucky to receive four aces in poker. The player should also know that is unwise to forgo three-of-a-kind to play for a straight in poker or split two ten's in blackjack.
Certain wagering gaming devices are required to involve skill or dexterity. These games cannot turn purely upon the luck of the player. Skill games present certain general problems to the game implementor. First, skill games can be mastered by players having a high level of skill, a lot of practice or both. Second, to combat mastering, gaming device manufacturers may have to make the skill game relatively difficult for the economics to work. The difficulty level may be too great for average players to experience a sufficient level of success and enjoyment.
Skill games, on the other hand, are interactive and typically enjoyable to play. A need exists therefore for a different, interactive and enjoyable game that can be played requiring skill. A need also exists for a method of controlling a payout in a wagering game having skill so that the game is relatively easy to win and enjoy and at the same time economical and fiscally controllable, predictable and repeatable for the casino.